Spain's sports media were foaming at the mouth over the weekend.

"Mbappé wanted to get out of the golden cage, fulfill his dream and play at Real Madrid.

But he prefers the money,” they complained in the midnight panel discussion on Cadena SER, the country's most listened-to radio station.

"Mbappé cheated on Real Madrid," said another, "this guy stays in Paris because of the coal, because of the Eiffel Tower, he's greedy," said a third in Spain's most successful sports talk.

And in the sports newspaper AS, which has been reporting on Mbappé's long-standing commitment for a year, a commentator scoffed: "Some want to be remembered for their sporting and human size, for others it's enough that nobody but them is richer in Paris." Reason of anger: Kylian Mbappé will not score his goals for Real Madrid in the future, but for Paris Saint Germain for at least three more years.

After the announcement of the 23-year-old's decision by PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi, which was surrounded by fireworks, three goals followed in the 5-0 home win against Metz.

Previously, Mbappé Madrid's club boss Florentino Pérez is said to have communicated his decision by text message, who then replied succinctly: "Take care!".

Free transfer failed

The Spanish media, which usually likes to spread every rumor, does not name the specific sums that Real offered the star and how much he now earns in Paris.

But of course it can be assumed that the Parisian club in the hands of the investor group Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) has clearly outbid Madrid's offer.

Real Madrid were already interested in the exceptional French striker in 2017, but Mbappé then switched from Monaco to Paris for a fee of 35 million euros.

Last year, Madrid club boss Florentino Pérez offered PSG first 160, then 180 and finally 200 million euros, but the club owners from Qatar waved it off.

Better that way, they thought in Madrid, then you can get Mbappé for free in the summer of 2022.

He spoke of dreaming of playing for Real Madrid one day.

At Cadena SER, a journalist repeatedly recalled a sentence that he attributed to Florentino Pérez: "Kylian Mbappé will play for Real Madrid next season and he will forego a lot of money." Pérez now had to explain himself, part of the discussion required.

They were so confident in Madrid that they would see Mbappé in the white shirt from next season that they even cheered for him when he scored twice against Real as the two clubs met in the round of 16 of this season's Champions League.

The consolation in Madrid is that you are still in the final and not the millions from Paris.

That's why they say the striker chose the money over the better sporting project.

Live carefree

The anger is understandable.

Real Madrid have managed sensibly in the last two difficult years of the pandemic, only paying a transfer fee of 31 million euros for the young midfielder Camavinga, but also giving away players for almost 180 million euros, including Raphaël Varane to Manchester United or Achraf Hakimi to Inter Milan, thereby also gaining some breathing room within the La Liga framework for player salaries.

Mbappé would have been paid handsomely at Real Madrid without the club's finances getting into trouble.

But with an oil state as the owner in the background, life is even more carefree.

La Liga sees this as a distortion of competition.

PSG reported a loss of 220 million euros last year, amassing a loss of 700 million euros in previous seasons.

La Liga has previously reported PSG for violating UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules and will do so again, the Spanish professional football organization said in a statement released on Saturday night.

La Liga is no longer just about the salary range at Paris Saint Germain.

Erling Haaland would also have liked to have signed FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, but had no chance against Manchester City's financial leeway with Abu Dhabi in the background.

And also the loss of other players like Neymar or Messi, who both now play in Paris, La Liga attributes to the petrodollars that Qatar transfers to Paris.

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So La Liga is slowly running out of top media stars - and that could also reduce the interest of international television stations in Spanish football, fears league boss Javier Tebas.

He describes a problem that affects all European clubs.

Nevertheless, he can hardly hope for a large wave of solidarity.

After all, Real Madrid too often went on a shopping spree with checkbook in hand.

Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazário de Lima, Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Hazard - for a long time money didn't seem to play a role in the commitments of the last 20 years in Madrid either.

But times have changed.

However, the struggle for Mbappé also shows that investments in the millions do not always guarantee titles.

Real Madrid knocked out PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City en route to the Champions League final.

If the club also wins the title against Liverpool next Saturday, "in Madrid they won't even remember the spelling of Mbappé's name," Cadena SER concluded his talk show on Sunday night.